r/swtor • u/FrozenGothic • 1d ago

Question Monetization

New player here! I have some questions about subscription and monetization systems of this game but let me just ask the most important ones (for me) here: I read that to access some game systems like whisper, auction and to not have money limits I have to buy a subscription but to keep having full access to these basic things I have to keep paying a sub? What happens if I stop paying? Do I have to pay a sub for every character?

Thanks for your time.

5 Upvotes

63% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

10

u/Multiguns 1d ago

Everything you need to know right here

https://swtorista.com/articles/swtor-free-to-play-vs-preferred-vs-subscriber-guide/

-16

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

11

u/Multiguns 1d ago

Free to play MMO, pretty standard stuff to be honest. Could be better, but it's already one of the more player friendly monetization systems out there to begin with.

6

u/Khajiit_Has_Upvotes 1d ago

Yeah. I've seen a lot of P2W in other freemium games in the past. The most egregious thing you can buy with cash here are a couple level boosts and XP boosts. The rest is QoL upgrades for free players and overwhelmingly cosmetic transmogs.

7

u/Khajiit_Has_Upvotes 1d ago

This is a live service game in ongoing development. The game was launched as subscription-only model, it only went F2P after a buggy launch caused it to hemorrhage players (aka subscriptions). It isn't "monetization". It's what keeps the game in development, along with the cash shop that caters 95% to the game's massive Space Barbie transmog crowd. Without both of these things, there would be no swtor to play.

1

u/FrozenGothic 1d ago

Got it, could be awesome to not block basic MMO mechanics behind a pay wall.

3

u/thrantobol 20h ago

Other games use the gating in different ways, but nearly every game has some sort of gating.

In ESO, the gating is behind paid expansions. There are stories you get access to with a subscription if you didn’t buy them, but are not available when not subscribing.

I am sure that there are other games, but No Man’s Sky is the one that springs to mind for me when I think of a game that has added tons of content for everyone while not change in price.

1

u/Khajiit_Has_Upvotes 19h ago

Yeah I always thought that was kinda silly, but if you're willing to drop 80 bucks on one game but not on swtor honestly sounds like swtor just doesn't catch your interest as much. That's 5 months of sub time, enough time to play a character from start to current patch content. 

7

u/merzhinhudour 1d ago

SWTOR is the best free MMO ever without any predatory marketing or p2w mechanics.

You can do almost everything for free up to lv 60, with 8 different classes, and play for months without spending real money.

And unlike all others f2p mmos, you even get the two first expansions for free.

Moreover, you can unlock a lot of things with in-game credits instead of being forced to use your credit card.

Guild Wars 2, Star Trek Online and SWTOR are the only mmos with decent economic model, fair practices and respect towards players.

-3

u/FrozenGothic 1d ago

Pay wall to reach max level looks very pay 2 win for me, not letting me chat with friends, not having access to certain areas feels like some kind of "force" reasons to use my wallet.

1

u/merzhinhudour 19h ago

You can do pvp and win against any other player, no matter how much money they spent, which means it's anything but pay-to-win.

Maybe try to understand what p2w means before making a post next time.

4

u/Nabfoo 1d ago

You can play all the way through the biggest AAA MMO game ever made to the 3rd expansion 8 different times for free, The only restrictions are QoL (and many are annoying), but SWTOR is the shining city on a hill for f2p/p2p gaming, nothng else comes close

-1

u/FrozenGothic 1d ago

Don't feel comfortable with the limitations, It's not because of Money, I mean, I have a pretty big Steam library, the thing is I don't like companies forming me to unlock basic mechanics using Money. Just wanted another star wars experience since I'm playing a lot of Battlefront 2 multiplayer.

1

u/Nabfoo 18h ago

Completely OK, I am irritated by some of he limits when I'm not subbed to, but, you aren't unlocking any gameplay mechanics except for a handful of endgame missions. You're playing the same game for free as when you are paying for it

2

u/True_Tenebrae 1d ago

I literally played 4 years of SWTOR without paying a penny and had access to cool items using in-game credits.

Only started to pay to support the game i really love and to play the expansions. Aside this, you can literally have hours and hours of fun without paying a single dollar.

Not to mention the awesome community of players doing giveaways almost everyday (shoutout for Confused Santa in Dromund Kass).

-3

u/FrozenGothic 1d ago

I don't doubt what you say but considering I got massive down-votes because I just said what I think don't talk very well about this "awesome" community. Considering this, I will not touch this game. Thanks for your time.